The Packing Continues

Well, we are all still alive and still speaking to each other. :)

We are 90% or more done with all bedrooms, bathrooms, the living and family rooms. Just a few things here and there. I'm about to tackle the loft, and we've scheduled the kitchen and garage for tomorrow. I think we need more boxes.

The movers should be here Saturday morning, and I suppose we'll just be monitoring their progress. We've reserved a room in Dayton OH for Saturday night, and plan to make it to our new house by dinnertime on Sunday. The movers arrive Monday morning. Then, as my mother pointed out, all that stuff we've been packing has to be unpacked. Thanks Mom. :)

We'll take some pictures when we arrive, and maybe we can even figure out our digital video camera and join the YouTube revolution.

We're hoping for no precipitation on Saturday or Monday. And no arguments or meltdowns through the holiday season.

Hate to move?

Doesn't everyone hate to move? Any time I've ever moved, no one has ever said to me "awww, how lucky! I love to move!" Any time someone else is moving, my response is "ew, I hate moving". So, we know this isn't going to be pleasant, but I can guarantee, this time it will be different. How?

We are moving across the country.
I'm a midwestern girl. Born and raised in Boonville, Indiana (yes, it IS a real place, look it up), I lived in the same house from age 3 till I went to college at WKU in Bowling Green, Kentucky. (By the way, Mom and Dad still live in that house on Chestnut Street.) From WKU, I returned to Boonville, then we moved to Indianapolis. Back to Boonville in 2000, back to Indy in 2005. I've lived within 200 miles of my hometown all my life. Springfield is 600 miles from where we are now and 700 miles from Boonville. We don't know a soul. No relatives are anywhere close. We're looking at it as an opportunity for our family to grow closer.

We are using professional movers.
We have too much junk trash many excess belongings to let someone else pack for us. We've got to do another purge. For our last move, we had a yard sale and made more than $800 plus took multiple carloads to the Goodwill. We also gave away carloads of stuff to friends and family. And, we moved the stuff that was too "valuable" to donate. You know, like the shoebox of Blue's Clues figurines. This time, everything must go. Given that it is December, a yard sale is out of the question. We don't have the time for ebay. So, AMVETS is coming Monday. I've already relinquished the maternity clothes I've been saving for 8 years. Everything else should be easy.

We are using professional movers, Part 2.
Even after purging, we've got a lot of stuff. Our estimate with the movers is 18,900 lbs. That is almost 9.5 TONS of stuff. Last time we had the largest U-Haul truck available, Beau's pickup, the Durango, the Neon, the RAV4, Mom's car and Pam's car. I later made several more trips in the Durango and Dad brought up the last heavy load in his pickup. I gotta think these guys are bringing a semi truck. Or two. There's no coming back for another load. If something isn't on the mover's list or doesn't fit in the van or RAV4, it ain't coming.

I'm taking time off from work to pack.
Mike has been the one to do the bulk of the packing for our previous moves. He's done a great job considering I am of no help at all. And, he's gotten better with each move. When we moved from Landmark Apartments, he forgot to empty the linen closet and used garbage bags instead of moving boxes. This last time, only clothes were in garbage bags, and we didn't forget a thing. For the next week, I'm off work and I'm going to help. Really. I've already done most of the living and family rooms. Next is the bathrooms, our bedroom, and the scrap supplies. We definitely need more boxes.

The family is not scheduled to help.
Maybe this is a given, considering we are using professional movers, but no one is helping us this time. No cousins driving the U-Haul or helping us load and unload. No church friends emptying the entire house in an hour. No Nana scrubbing the stove and the fridge. No sister painting the new place. No one to buy 30 McDonald's double cheeseburgers for the unpacking party. When Jamie just moved she said she was happy that we were all there (and her friends too, as she moved within two days of getting married and we had a bridesmaid slumber party). She said she had happy memories from day one. We'll have to make our happy memories with just the four of us.

I'm taking time off from work to unpack.
Lots of folks tell you they still have boxes that haven't been unpacked a year after moving. It's a little joke ... gee, wonder if I still need that stuff? After more than a year, I was still unpacking my cookie jar collection. We only just found the blender within the last two months. And, we still have our entire collection of office supplies in the garage. We're color coding and carefully labeling all the boxes, so unpacking should be a breeze. I'm taking at least three days off to get a good head start. The blender will be first.

I can blog all about it!
Since we'll be so far away, I'll be keeping everyone up to date here. I'm encouraging Aly to update her blog so you get her perspective too. I'll have to teach Zak to use the digi video cam (and upload to YouTube). I want to share all about the new house and the neighborhood, as well as the further adventures of our move. Stay tuned!

The Big News

It is finally official and the cat is out of the bag all over. We are moving.

While it is related to my job, they aren't 'making' me move, but it is a decision Mike and I made with much discussion and thought. I am doing well at my current assignment but to be promoted in Indianapolis, I would have to give that up. There is much more opportunity in the Federal sector (fixing the government, now that is job security), so it makes sense for us to go. We've both always wanted to live on the east coast (Boston, NYC) and it will open up a world of culture and learning for the kids. The biggest selling point is that all the travel I've been doing to DC will now be a 30 minute train ride, and dinner at home with the family.

We've rented a house in Springfield, VA. Built in the mid-sixties, the 5BR 2.5BA split level home has a fenced back yard, and is owned by a couple who took over the house from their daughter when she was diagnosed with a muscle disease. They were looking to rent or sell to a nice family, and somehow they think that's us. :)

I'll have to drive about 25 minutes to the PwC office, or take a 30 minute train ride to the VA downtown. I will probably work from home most days -- the second bedroom, across the hall from the master, will be my office and scrap room. Aly picked the other upstairs bedroom, because there is a laundry chute that leads to the washer and dryer in the basement. Zak picked a downstairs bedroom, where the big family room (and wood burning fireplace) is located. The smallest bedroom will be Mike's office, and there's plenty of room in the family room for the kids crafts, books, videos and computer. If we have leftover moving money, we're getting a big screen TV!

Next week is my normal week in DC, so Mike and the kids are flying in too. They'll see the sites and visit the house while I'm in meetings. Besides the airplane, seeing our new house is what they are most excited about.

Just a few weeks and we are moving cross country. Things happened fast, but when God's plan comes together, you don't get in the way!

Where am I?

Okay, they have sent out a search party for me, so I had better check in.
I can't believe it has been so long since I gave an update, but my travel schedule has been wicked. Here's where I've been since the fabulously cheesy Madison, WI:

10/10-10/11 DC for a quick meeting
10/13 In the Indy office and sushi with a friend :)
10/16 School conferences for both of my incredibly smart children
10/17-10/19 DC for regular monthly meetings; also, rented a house for December.
10/20-10/22 Fabulous weekend at the Dairy
10/24-10/26 Back to DC for a meeting, but then on to Nashville for a software demo. My flight back through Chicago was cancelled so I was routed through Dallas.
10/27-10/29 Weekend at my mom's for an end of fall bonfire and lots of sleeping.
10/30 Yes, only one day. In Boston, another software demo
11/01-11/02 Here I am, in Baltimore. I stayed home yesterday to celebrate Halloween with the kids, what fun! I couldn't get a flight tonight that would get me home at a reasonable hour, so I'm living it up at the Wyndham Inner Harbor. King room on the corner of the building. I don't actually see the harbor though.

I'm at home for the next week and then the whole family is going with me to DC 11/13-11/17. I need to tell you all about our new house, when we are moving and that fabulous scrapping weekend (and my plans to return), but if I don't file some expense reports for all these trips in the next hour, I miss the payment deadline for my corporate card. I'm afraid they are about to shut it off.

So, hang in there. I'll be back this week, I hope, to fill you all in and catch up on your happenings too.

XOXO